Conservatives looking forward to seeing two of their signature issues voted on this November as constitutional amendments were outraged when Secretary of State Mark Ritchie unveiled the titles that will introduce the questions on the ballot.

Since before the state government shutdown even began, it was clear where the impasse was headed if neither governor nor Legislature blinked: straight to the courtroom of Ramsey County District Court Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin.

By all accounts, the Dayton administration’s shutdown playbook went something like this: Limited to only the most essential, core services, a hard but short-lived shuttering of state government would ramp up the pressure on intransigent Republicans and push the Legislature toward compromise.